Finding Home
by invaderspiffy
Summary: Logan's best friend is being abused by her older brother. He helps her deal with the trauma that comes with it, and helps her find a better life.


Ring.

Ring.

"Ashford Police Apartment. What's your emergency."

"M-my brother is crazy! He's gonna kill me! He has a knife! H-help!" The frantic voice of a teenage girl sounded through the phone. Before the person on the other lin had a chance to speak, the girl hung up the phone.

She heard heavy footsteps approaching from the kitchen and quickly hid behind the L-shaped couch in the family room. Her hand clung to the phone like a security blanket, as if it would save her.

"Where are you, Ellie?" Toby's voice rang out, surprisingly calm.

Ellie shook slightly, squeezing her eyes shut. She regretted it, though, when the spot under her eye started to sting from Toby's previous explosion of anger.

Not spotting her, Toby turned on his heel and headed towards the kitchen. With a surge if courage, Ellie sprung up from her place behind the couch and sprinted towards the front door. She gripped the grimy handle and threw it open. She heard it smash against the wall inside the house. She didn't stop running until she had made it to the front door of her best-friend-and-neighbor's house.

She furiously pounded her fist on the door until her knuckles burned. The door finally swung open, and Ellie fell into the arms of her best friend.

"L-Logan, help! Toby's crazy! He-"

Logan cut off her hysterics by pulling her into the house and closing the door. They heard police sirens blaring around the., drawing nearer. Logan gripped Ellie by her shoulders and forced her to stand up properly.

"Calm down, Ellie. Just breathe. Tell me what happened," Logan said, concerned. Ellie nodded and stood there for a moment, calming herself.

"I came home from school," she began, "and Toby was mad because I forgot to do the dishes last night. So he h-hit me. I tried to run away but," She breathed deeply, staring at the wall behind Logan, looking as if the memory was playing in her head like a horror movie.

Logan nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"It just made him angrier. He got a knife. I called the police. And now I'm here," She said, turning her blue eyes back to Logan's brown ones.

Logan sighed. "You probably should've waited for the police. They're still out there. Let's go-"

"No! Not yet!"

Logan raised his eyebrow, "Ellie, you have to talk to them. You need to make sure that he can't hurt you anymore."

"I know," she said, looking down, "I'm just noy ready right now." She looked up at him, willing him to understand, as the sirens began to fade.

"Fine. But we should at least get you cleaned up," He said.

"Let's do that here., " Ellie said.

"We can't. We don't have a first aid kit."

She nodded dejectedly and walked to the front window. Slowly, she pulled back the cotton drapes and scanned her yard , finding nothing out of the ordinary. The neighbor hood was silent. Looking up, she no damage seemed to be done to the exterior of the house. She felt Logan walk up behind her. He peered over her shoulder.

"Do you think Toby's there?" He asked.

"No. If he was, the whole house would be destroyed by now," She told him.

"Okay," Logan said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the front door. They went across the street to Ellie's house and made sure to lock the door behind them.

Inside the house, there was quite a bit of damage. The glass coffee table was shattered and the leather recliner was tipped over in the family room. Picture frames were knocked over and broken. Toby's done worse before though, Ellie thought, and those things weren't important anyway.

Ellie sat on the edge of the old wooden table in her kitchen, swinging her legs back and forth. Her hands rested on either side of her hips, tracing the worn spots and scratches on the surface. The sound of police sirens still stung at her ear drums and crashed into her brain, making it hard to think about anything else.

The haunting noise stopped when Logan returned from the bathroom with the first aid kit. He set it on the table next to her and took out a bottle of disinfectant and a cotton ball. Ellie stopped swinging her legs.

"This might sting," he told her, wetting the cotton ball with the disinfectant. Lightly using his fingertips, he lifted her chin up to get a better view. "It looks kinda deep, but you'll heal," he said and pressed the cotton to her cut, making her wince slightly.

"Sorry," He murmured, dabbing at the cut before putting the cotton on the table.

"Its okay," She said, biting her lip lightly.

Logan grabbed a plain, tan Band-Aid and unwrapped it. Carefully, he placed it over the wound, making sure to flatten it out. He stepped back and examined his work, frowning.

"That's gonna bruise," he said, "Do you have any ice packs in the freezer?" Ellie shook her head.

"But we have a bag of frozen peas," she said.

Logan nodded and pulled open the small, stainless steel freezer. He rummaged through it briefly before he spotted the bag of peas and took them out. Slamming the door shut with his hip, he made his way to a roll of paper towels sitting out on the granite countertop next to the freezer. After wrapping the ice pack in the paper towel, he walked back to where the petite girl was sitting.

"Here," he said, holding the makeshift ice pack to her already forming bruise.

She smiled slightly at him, giving him silent thanks for his help. He smiled back at her, showing two rows of shiny, white teeth, making the dimples on his cheeks more prominent. They stared at each other for a minute or two before a knock on the door made them tear their eyes away from each other and blush. Ellie's hands replaced Logan's on the bag of frozen peas. Logan let his hand drop to his side.

"Uh, I'll get it," Logan said, walking to the tall, wooden front door and pulling up the bronze handle.

"I need Brielle Reed to come with me," A police officer stood at the door in full uniform.

"Why?" Logan questioned, looking skeptically at the officer, "She didn't do anything."

"We just need to talk to her," He said, peering over Logan's shoulder to get a better view of the house.

Logan sighed, "I'll get her,"

He left the door open and returned to the kitchen. Ellie had gotten down from the table and had taken the makeshift ice pack off. She was standing by the counter, staring at a set of keys hanging on a hook on the wall. Logan cleared his throat and she looked up at him.

"Who was it?"

"It's a cop. He said they need to talk to you,"

"Now? Why now?" Logan shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, "but he's waiting for you at the door,"

Ellie nodded and walked to the door slowly, with Logan trailing behind her. As soon as she reached the open door, and gust of wind brushed by, making her shiver. The police officer looked at her pointedly.

"Brielle?" He asked. She nodded. "I'm gonna need to bring you into the station to clarify what went on tonight,"

Ellie nodded again and tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Logan's chocolate brown eyes staring down at her. Logan broke the eye contact first and looked up at the officer.

"Can I go with," He asked, and the officer shook his head.

"Just her," he said, his voice holding a tone of finality.

Logan reluctantly took his hand off Ellie's shoulder and sighed. He watched her slowly shuffle to the police car that sat in the driveway. She glanced at Logan briefly, her blue eyes holding fear, and got in the car. The officer got in the car, too, before pulling away and driving to the station.

When they finally reached the station, the officer- Officer Willis, as he told Ellie in the car- lead her into an interrogation, where a young brunette man sat. He motioned for Ellie to sit down across from him, while Officer Willis stayed by the door.

"Hi, Ellie. I'm detective Sanders. I'm going to ask you a few questions about your brother Toby, okay?"

Ellie nodded slowly, not meeting the detective's eyes. She heard the sound of a tape recorder clicking on. Detective Sanders briefly explained what they were talking about and other trivial facts to have on record.

"Okay, Ellie. First question. Why do you live with your brother," he asked, looking at her with an expression that said he already knew why. Ellie let out a shaky breath and clenched her hands slightly.

"Our parents died. In a car crash."

"How long ago," Detective Sanders asked.

"Almost three years ago," Ellie said, not looking up.

"Has the abuse been going on this whole time," he asked, sympathy accidentally dripping into his voice like a leaky faucet.

"No. It just started last year." She figured there was no point in denying it now. The evidence was all over her. Bruises, cuts, and even a few burn marks from when he got really angry. The detective nodded.

"Okay, and was Toby...on any sort of drugs or was he drunk when he did any of this," Ellie shrugged and stared at the ground. "Don't be afraid. You can tell me," the detective said softly.

"I don't think so. I think he just hated me," Detective Sanders frowned.

"Why do you think he would hate you?"

Ellie sniffled and brought her hand up to wipe away tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She let out another shaky breath.

"It's my fault my parents are dead," she said softly, her bottom lip trembling. The detective's eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"How so?"

"They were on their way to pick me up from school. I could've just walked, but I was too tired. My parents died because I was tired," She said, a tear slipping down her cheek.

Detective Sanders stopped the tape recorder and got up. He walked to the other side of the cold, metal table and kneeled down next to the brunette girl. He put a hand on her frail shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Ellie. And I don't think your brother hates you. He just doesn't know how to handle his emotions," Ellie nodded and the detective stood up and turned to Officer Willis.

"That's enough for now. Take her to the lobby. A woman from child services is waiting for her,"

Ellie looked up. "W-why?"

The detective sighed.

"Your brother is going to jail. They're probably going to put you on a group home until they have somewhere for you to go," he said.

Ellie saw this coming. She'd seen so many new stories and episodes of cop dramas like this. She nodded, keeping her face as expressionless as she could.

She somberly followed the officer to the lobby where a plump, short woman with graying hair stood. The woman peered over her glasses at Ellie. Ellie noted the warm smile and laugh lines around her pale, thin lips.

"You must be Ellie. I'm Mrs. Moore, but you can call me Nancy, if you'd like. I'll be helping you sort this mess out,"

Ellie nodded and waved hello, feeling a bit offended by the lady's comment. This mess that she's trying to fix was her entire life. But, then she remembered that she was only trying to help and let it go. Though, she opted to stick with calling her Mrs. Moore, because she wasn't about to act like she was friends with this lady who called her life a mess (even though it certainly was).

"Now, luckily, there was an opening in a group home not far from her. You can stay there until we've found a permanent home or until you're 18," she told her, "Now, I'm going to take you home and we can pack up some things for you to take to the house, okay?"

Ellie nodded and followed Mrs. Moore out to her car.

She got in and shivered at the coldness of the leather seats. After making sure that Ellie had her seatbelt on, Mrs. Moore pulled away from the station and started driving towards Ellie's house. Ellie stayed quiet for the most part, only speaking when Mrs. Moore needed directions. They pulled up to the house moments later. Mrs. Moore opened her door.

"Wait!" Ellie exclaimed. Mrs. Moore looked back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, I want to do this alone," she said. Mrs. Moore nodded and

Ellie got out of the car. Walking up the house, she absentmindedly hooped that Logan would still be there.

Oh.. Logan. She stopped in her tracks at the front door. She'd been so busy trying to detach herself from the situation, to just get through it, that she'd forgotten that she'd have to leave him. Worse yet, she'd have to tell him that she was leaving.

She took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Gripping the doorknob, she let it go. She walked inside and left the door open behind her. Logan was sitting on the couch, looking at her, waiting for her to tell him what was going on. She swallowed down a lump in her throat.

"I have to leave. Toby's going to jail. I'm going to a group home. An hour away." her voice broke.

Logan got up from his spot on the couch and walked over to her. He stared at her for a moment or two, a blank expression on his face. His lips drew into a pale pink line that soon plummeted into a frown. He wrapped his arms around her slight frame and sighed.

"It'll be okay," He told her softly. Ellie sniffled slight and nodded. "We can still visit each other, right?" Ellie nodded again. "Then we have nothing to worry about,"

The two made sure to compose themselves before stepping away from each other.

"Will you, uh, help me pack some things?" Ellie asked. Logan agreed.

The two got to work, each grabbing large duffle bags that were lying around the guest room closet. They went to Ellie's room. Ellie picked through her clothes, Logan picked through some knick knacks that were left on the dresser. They grabbed the things they each thought were important and placed them into the bags.

Ellie glanced at her side table next to her bed and debated on whether or not to take her favorite family picture. It was one taken by a kind stranger at the zoo in front of the penguin exhibit. Ellie's mom and dad stood close together, grins etched in black and white on their faces. Ellie was only about 6 at the time, held snuggly in her father's arms, flashing a toothless grin at the camera. Toby was probably around 14, the poster child for adolescent rebellion. He had his black hair spiked up in a mohawk and a deep frown on his face. He stood away from his smiling

family, not looking at the camera.

Ellie took the picture out of its pink frame and folded back the part with Toby on it. She tore off the folded section, the noise drawing Logan's attention.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Ellie said calmly, placing the Toby's frowning image face-down on the dresser. She tucked the remainder of the picture in her bag.

"I think that's everything," She told Logan, zipping up the bag. Logan zipped up the bag in his hands, following her example.

"Okay. If you're sure…"

Ellie nodded, took the second bag from Logan's hand, and started toward the front door. Logan placed a hand on her shoulder, just as she reached the door.

"Wait…"

"What?" Ellie asked, her eyebrows knitting together in

confusion.

"Uh," Logan scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his that Ellie loved, "I'm gonna miss you…"

Ellie smiled sadly, "I'm gonna miss you, too,"

Logan nodded slightly and looked down. He let his hand drop off of her shoulder. Ellie shuffled her feet slightly, and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Logan looked up at her and smiled.

Ellie smiled back before turning on her heel. She walked out the door, Logan following behind her. He made sure the door was looked before walking her to the car. Mrs. Moore popped the trunk and Logan helped Ellie put her bags. They closed the trunk and walked to the side of the car.

"So, I guess this is goodbye…" Logan said.

Ellie shook her head, "This is more of a 'see you later'," she said, smiling slightly. Logan smile back and opened the car door. He shut ot again when Ellie got in. Stepping back, he waved as the car pulled away.

•••

Ellie shifted in the black, squeaky leather seat. Her eyes darted between the passing trees out her window, flashes of browns, reds, and yellows overwhelmed her. She glanced out the windshield and saw gray with yellow dashes. The same road they've been on for what seemed like forever.

Mrs. Moore glanced up, smiling at Ellie in the rearview mirror. Ellie attempted to smile in return, but it turned out to like more of a grimace, so she averted her eyes to her hands that had been folded in her lap for most of the trip.

"We'll be there soon, Ellie. See, we're in town now. It'll be good for you," she said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to gesture to the sign reading, 'Welcome to Merryville'.

Ellie nodded slightly, not moving her eyes off of her pale hands.

The car ride seemed to fly by, the way it felt when Ellie was waiting for Toby to get home, minutes seemed like seconds.

When the car pulled into a long driveway, Mrs. Moore popped the trunk and got of the car. Ellie felt the car shake slightly as the older woman retrieved her bags. The trunk slammed shut and the sound of high heels clicking on the pavement made Ellie close her eyes.

Letting out a defeated sigh, the young woman opened her car door and stepped out. She followed Mrs. Moore up the driveway, refusing to look up at the house. Her eyes stayed to the ground as if they were glued in place.

They made it halfway up when she lost her will power. She intended to just glance quickly, but when her eyes tore away from the ground, she stared, completely transfixed.

The house wasn't exactly small, but it had a quaint look to it, painted white with a light gray door. The windows were small, with planters on the sills. There were full-grown trees and colorful flowers spread out in the yard. Bushes covered in light purple blossoms lined the porch and walkway. Mrs. Moore looked back at Ellie finally.

"See, Ellie. It's a nice place," she said, smiling warmly.

Ellie nodded, "Yeah, it is," she smiled.


End file.
